BMW has timed its shift to electrical vehicles nicely and its upcoming merchandise will reverse the notion the automaker is behind on electrification and will make its inventory compete with the likes of Tesla, its high govt stated.

“There’s a notion that we took a break, however we really did not take a break,” CEO Oliver Zipse advised Reuters as a part of a collection of boardroom interviews entitled “Delivering Internet Zero.”

“We waited for the second when electromobility is absolutely entering into larger volumes,” Zipse stated.

Automakers are racing to develop electrical vehicles amid tightening CO2 emission requirements in Europe and China.

BMW says it expects half of its sales to be fully-electric models by 2030, which is seen as a extra conservative method than rivals akin to Volkswagen, which has seen its inventory lifted by formidable electrification plans.

VW has developed its personal electrical automobile platform from the bottom up. Subsequent month Daimler will unveil the EQS flagship electric sedan, its first Mercedes-Benz mannequin on a devoted electrical platform.

BMW at the moment builds combustion engine, hybrid and electrical fashions on shared platforms. Critics say shared platforms compromise the efficiency of electrical autos. It can launch its New Class electric-focused platform in 2025. The platform is designed to be totally electrical however may even underpin vehicles with gasoline and diesel inside combustion engines, together with plug-in hybrids.

“If you happen to have a look at what’s occurring available in the market with these (devoted electrical) platforms, the vehicles all look alike,” Zipse stated. “BMW serves very particular, high-paying prospects, I feel they do not need vehicles who all look alike.”

Zipse stated he expects the European Union will additional tighten its CO2 emission targets for 2030.

He stated the bloc shouldn’t overreach on so-called Euro 7 automobile emissions proposals for pollution together with nitrous oxide and lung-damaging particulate matter due this 12 months – Germany’s auto trade says some proposals into account might successfully combustion engines from 2025.

“We should always do it in an affordable approach to maintain the combustion engine alive” as a result of engine enhancements will assist attain local weather objectives, he stated.

Zipse stated BMW’s market cap of round 55 billion euros ($64.7 billion) is decrease than its belongings of round 60 billion euros. “One thing is fallacious there,” he stated. “That may assume that you do not have a future.”

Requested if BMW might turn out to be a “story inventory” like electrical automaker Tesla, Zipse stated: “In fact we will.”